NE health ministers discuss NEIGRIHMS issues with Nadda

New Delhi, June 15 (IANS) Health ministers of northeastern states on Thursday sought intervention of Union Health and Family Welfare Minister J.P. Nadda into the shortage of faculty members in the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) in Meghalaya’s capital Shillong.

Nadda said he has taken note of the problems faced by the central medical institute, they said.

Meghalaya Health Minister Alexander Hek, who was accompanied by his counterparts from the other northeastern states, urged Nadda to fill various vacant positions in the teaching and non-teaching departments.

Arunachal Pradesh Health and Family Welfare Minister, Alo Libang, Nagaland Health and Family Welfare Minister, S. Pangyu Phom, Manipur Health and Family Welfare Minister, L. Jayantakumar Singh, Sikkim Health and Family Welfare Minister Arjun Kumar Ghatani and Assam Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Minister Pijush Hazarika were also present at the meeting.

The North East Health Ministers also raised the issue of de-recognition of the Post Graduate course at NEIGRIHMS with the Union minister and requested him for his personal intervention.

Following the meeting, Nadda told the North East Health Ministers that he is aware of the problems in NEIGRIHMS and promised them that he would soon call a meeting of the NEIGRIHMS Governing Council to address the problems.

The NEIGRIHMS has been designed on the lines of the premier All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi, and Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh.

The hospital was built at an estimated cost of Rs 420 crore and has a 30-bed Intensive Care Unit and 35 specialty and super specialty departments.